My dearest treasure
by Meisae
Summary: Summaries inside!
1. Ch 1: Dreams and nightmares

**Authors note: **_Hey, guys! This is the first fanfiction I ever publish here. I have been a member of fan fiction since I was 14/15 years old, and I will be turning 22 in the summer to come^^ I have planed this story quite a while now, and since my sister, who is five years younger than me, just started publishing her stories, I thought "hell, might as well publish some of my own stuff." and well, here I am. I have no idea yet how the story will turn out, but we'll have to wait and see^^ Hope you like it!  
I DO NOT OWN THE CONEPT OF INUYASHA, NEATHER IT'S CHARACTERS, AND BELONG TO THE AWEZOME MANGAKA RUMIKO TAKAHASHI. THIS IS PURLY FANMADE BY ME, BUT THE STORY SO FAR IS MADE UP BY ME. SOME OC'S MIGHT TAGG ALONG, BUT I WILL VOICE THAT WHEN THE TIME COMES. ENJOY!  
_**  
Summary: **_When Kagome's life is turned upside down she is driven to flee from her home and forced to disguise herself as a man to board the closest ship on the haven. What she doesn't know is that this very ship is one of the most feared pirate ships out there. She comes head to head with the strict captain silver and his crew, and with enemies in her heels her disguise is put to a test as she slightly starts to fall for the captain. Will they get a hold of Kagome? Will she ever see her family again? And who is this Silver guy anyway? Is he really who he claims to be?  
__**Some of the Pairings**__: Inuyasha/Kagome, Kouga/Kagome, Miroku/Sango, Kouga/Ayame, Shippo/Kirara, and Sesshomaru/Rin._

**Chapter one: **_**Dreams and memories**_

This was the third time this month she had dreamt of him. He would appear in one of her dreams, but his face would be blurry as always. But somehow she felt like she knew this little boy from somewhere, a far of memory.

She would sit in the garden in her six years old form, on her favorite garden-swing and just stare at the sky while she listened quietly as the birds sang her favorite tunes. She used to close her eyes sometimes. As much as she liked the light, she found comfort in the dark. A sound caused her to open her eyes again. Her eyes searched but she couldn't find the source. The tune played again and this time she slid of the swing and started to walk around in the garden. The closer she got to the wall, the closer the music got. She went over a to the gardens iron gates that lead out to the flower garden outside her house.

Their house was placed on a small hillside which her dad and some of his friends had helped building when she still was in her mother's womb. Carefully she pushed the gates open, but she wasn't strong enough to get them fully open, so she had to squish herself through the small opening. Once she was through she tip toed to the corner and as silent as she could manage, she peered around it.

There sat a boy probably her age playing on a silver flute. He had raven hair just like her, only his hair was much sorter and boyish, his skin golden brown. The melody was so beautiful and calming, and the boy played it so softly. Suddenly the boy would stop, and turn to her. She couldn't see his eyes and his mouth would move, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. Then darkness would surround her again, and her eyes met the wooden roof of her room.

She shook her head and brought her hands up to her face. She tiredly rubbed her eyes and felt a yawn on its way.  
As she was done yawning, she sat up in the bed. It was still slightly dark outside, but she figured she wouldn't get much sleep anyways so she decided to get dressed. She liked the idea of finally being able to dress herself for a change. She was turning 19 this month, but her mother still had her dressed up by the servants. She didn't hate ether her nor them for it, but she liked to do something on her own, and getting dressed was one of them.

She went over to the her closet to pick out something to wear. Dresses in all kinds of shapes, designs and colors hang inside her dressing room. She breathed deeply before she slid her hands from one dress to another. It's not like she had nothing to wear, but she had nothing that would fit her mood at the moment...

She preferred something comfortable over all that fluffy stuff. She remembered her old riding clothes and went to the back of the closet to open the up her old clothing chest. A lot of her clothes from before her father died lied inside of it. After he died, she had tried to hide away her memories of him in that chest, as a way for her to cope with his death. But it was not only containing her clothes from that time. Letters that her father had written to her while he was away was gently wrapped with a red ribbon, just the way she had left them 5 years ago, and a silver casket she once had received for her 11th birthday.

The colors blended into a weird mixture, and she noticed that the tears swirling up in her eyes was the reason behind the blur. She shook her head at the memories and placed the casket beside her knees, making room for her to rummage more freely in the chest.  
She found her dark red pants, still a bit dirty from her very last horseback trip with her father, but she preferred them dirty than smoothen and clean. She also found one of her light white shirts with a slightly high collar, and her dark blue riding jacket with golden buttons.

As she putt on her clothes she was amazed how well it still fitted her, but they were quite large to her at that time. She combed her fingers through her raven black hair, bringing it up into a slightly loose ponytail. She took a quick glance outside the window by her bed. The dawn was braking and behind the mountains she could glimpse the sunrays slowly climbing their way over them. She took the ribbon out of her mouth and twirled it three times around the tail before she tied it into a tight knot. She went over to the closet again, and took out her father's riding boots. She slid into them with ease, and wasn't surprised to find them still a bit big for her small feats, but she liked them that way.

To not wake her mother and the others she went over to her window, carefully opened it and brought her left foot up to slide through it. She was only halfway through when she heard her door creak, and froze. Slowly she slightly turned her upper body only to find, to her relief, one of her servants but also her best friend, smiling.

"Going somewhere, Miss Kagome?" The servant spoke, she herself was fully dressed, a smile formed in the corner of her mouth. "Oh, Sango, Good morning. Well you know the morning is still young and the air is so fresh in the morning you see."  
Kagome explained as she sat down where she left of and smiled, the breeze stroking her softly through the hair. "Perfect for a horse trip, huh?" Sango spoke, crossing her arms as she leant her shoulder onto the door frame, one brow risen higher than the other. "Yeah!" Kagome beamed, completely forgetting her manners and the whole "sneaking" idea. She cleared her throat in an attempt to try again " I mean yes. I mean no!" She almost hit herself from mental distress.  
Sango burst out in laughter, and was shortly followed by Kagome, both of them finding it hard to stop. Sango shook her head in plain resignation, tears still lingering in her eyes."Oh well. Mind if I tag along?"

"It would be a pleasure to have you accompany me, Sango" Kagome smiled. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"  
"It's settled then. I will go and ask Shippo to get the horses ready, they really have been kept still for far too long" Sango said before she turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.  
Kagome almost jumped out of pure bliss. It's been such a long time since she last sat on the horse back.

She climbed fully through the window and stood up in her full length, stretching her arms high and fully over her head. The air felt so nice against her skin. She exhaled deeply, letting the fresh cold air fill her tired lungs. She opened her eyes and looked in awe at the landscape surrounding their small mansion. Trees stretched as far as her eyes could see, the flowers in the garden below swayed softly in the breeze, small drops of the night rain still lingered in the grass and glittered in the morning light. Birds had begun to wake up and filled the air with uneven but beautiful tunes of music. She could smell the scent of fresh bread from the kitchen, making her slightly hungry. Their kitchen chef, Kaede, made the best food in the whole country, probably the world but the hunger had to wait.

The roof tiles were still slippery from the rain, so she had to sit down and slide her way over to the tree branches close to the house. Once she had a good hold of one of the thicker branches, she climbed down with ease. Her feet landed softly on the grass surface surrounding the garden tree, but she was careful not to step on any of the flowers as she made her way over to the stable. She heard talking as she closed in, and had a guess whose voice it belonged to.

When she entered the through the gates of the stable, she found Shippo and Kirara talking outside of her horse's box and smiled as she made her way through wards them. Shippo was also one of their servants, but he was more like a brother to her. Her real brother almost died of chickenpox when he was very young, but now he was as frisky as he'd ever been. He was out of the country at the moment, but would return at the end of this month.

Shippo's brown hair were as wild as ever, and tied up in an poor attempted ponytail. He wore his usual dark blue pants, a light blue shirt with leaf patterns underneath his light brown leather vest. He was a really cute boy of his age; she still couldn't understand why such a sweet boy was abandoned by his own parents. He was left on their staircase in one small straw-basket one cold December night. Kagome was only 6 at that time.

Kirara on the other hand was adopted into Sango's family and was in the same age as Shippo, separating them with only a few months, were Kirara was the youngest. She had a beautiful straight golden hair, loosely hanging down to her shoulders. Her eyes wore a hazelnut brown color, her skin was painted in a beautiful golden tan. She wore a red pirate shirt with a shorter collar, where the arms was rolled up to her elbows, the bottom part packed into her white pair of pants. She was as gorgeous as always.

Sango's family claimed that they owed her father their life after he and his troops saved them from the civil war cruelness fifteen years ago. Kagome was only 4 at that time.  
Her father had tried to tell them that they owed him and his family nothing, that he was only doing his duty, but they insisted on it and after days of arguing they were taken into the family. Her father saw Sango's father as his friend, not a servant no matter what, and as the years passed they became as brothers. With that, Kagome and Sango grew up as sisters separating them with two years, where Sango was the oldest.

Kagome's family never treated them as servants. They were like family to them and would never be treated otherwise.

"You know me, Kirara. I never run of when things get to scary, so you can always lean on me!" Shippo boasted, his head highly lifted and his nose poking the roof like it always did in those situations. He didn't seem to have noticed her approach, and continued his bragging even when she stoped right beside them. Shippo had his back to her, so it was no surprise that Kirara was the one to notice her. Kagome laid one finger in front of her own mouth to silence her and gave her a wink with her eye. Kirara let her eyes fall back at Shippo, but a small smile appeared in the corner of her mouth.

Carefully Kagome leaned inn close and blew into his ear. The scream that followed was surly to be heard by the whole town miles away. Kagome and Kirara laughed as they watched Shippo hang onto one of the wooden planks over them. "Awww, well aren't you a tough one? I'm glad we can all depend on you in situations like this, don't you agree, Kirara?" Kirara just continued laughing. "T-that wasn't fair! You're not allowed to sneak up on me like that! That's cheating!" Shippo screamed, his face starting to regain color again, fast.

"Good morning, miss Kagome." Kirara smiled and bowed her head to her. Kagome smiled and bowed back. She heard steps behind her, and turned to find Sango laughing behind them. "Well, if the house wasn't awake before it surely is now" Shippo muttered insults as he climbed down, causing them to start laughing again.

Sango and Kagome were on their way back when they saw Shippo approach them in high speed at the meadow close to the house. They halted their horses and waited for him to close up to them. When he arrived he was so out of breath he had to lean on Kagome's horse to steady himself. "Ko-a... hrt.. in y... hse... ury.." he breathed but neither Kagome nor Sango could catch any of the words he was saying.  
"What is it, Shippo? Speak loud and clear so we can hear you" Sango said as she brought her horse closer.

Shippo took a deep breath and fumbled himself into a standing position, his green eyes met Kagome's hassle ones. With shaking voice he spoke up more clearly this time.  
"Kouga just arrived and is he is badly hurt. Hurry!"

Her body froze as his words hit her. She threw a glance in Sango's direction who was just as shocked as her. They gave sign for the horses to speed up, and Sango picked up Shippo on go.

Kagome burst through the door and the scent of blood filled her nose "We're in here, dear" she heard her mother call from the living-room and ran inside. She found her sitting close to the green sofa, her hand resting on one of his hands. Kagome didn't need to see her mother's face to know his wounds where serious. Her body was as tense as hers. All around the floor lay blood-filled rags, barely any white left on them. Kaede was already there tending Kouga's wounds, and barely looked up when Kagome approached them. As his face came in view her hands flew up to cower her mouth to keep herself from screaming. She had to steady herself against her mother's chair to not risk falling. "Oh, mom... His eye!" her voice cracking, tears swirled up in her eyes.

The scene in front of them were horrifying. Cuts and blood were all over his body, but what scared her the most was the gaping wound in his stomach. The blood kept pouring out through Kaede's hands, and his breathing got weaker by the second. "You, get more rags! You there, fetch some water! I need more alcohol to clean his wounds, hurry!" Kaede's voice kept shouting orders, her voice filling the room repeatedly, but to Kagome it was all blurry. Her eyes was to focused on Kouga's face. She was seeing her father's death all over again and her breath caught in her throat. "KAGOME!" Her head shot up and met Kaede's eyes. "This is no time for you to mourn, he's not dead yet but he will be if you don't do exactly as I say, you hear me?" Her voice a bit calmer now that she had Kagome's attention. Kagome nodded shakily and stepped closer.

She heard footsteps and turned to find Sango panting in the doorway. Her eyes went from Kaede's bloody hands to the shaken Kagome, to Kouga's mangled body and back to Kaede's stern gaze again "Sango, get the herbs from the kitchen, fast." Sango nodded. "Yes ma'am" she said nothing more and ran off through wards the kitchen. "Kagome, you come here with me. I need you to press this clothing to his stomach and hold it there while I prepare the needle." Kagome hesitated. "NOW!" This woke her up and something impulsive drove her body to act. She quickly grabbed the clothing from one of the servants and pressed it firmly against the wound. The cloth was already drenched in alcohol and Kouga hissed as it came in contact with his stomach. She heard Sango run back into the room, but she didn't turn to look. Kaede ordered Sango to hold down Kouga's legs in case he would jump up when the stitches were strung.

It all seem to have happened so fast. Kouga's shouts and broken screams, the blood, fast footsteps came and went, seconds, minutes, hours. A light tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality and to her surprise discovered it was already dark outside. She turned her head and found a tired Sango standing behind her. "It's alright, Kouga is safe now so you can let go of the clout." she smiled down at her and gave sign she would help her up. "Let's get you washed up and into bed, it's getting late."

When Kagome let down her shoulders she realized just how tired she was, and hadn't it been for Sango she wouldn't have managed to get back up of the floor. "Where is he?" she asked weakly, her voice a bit hoarse from the lack of use the past hours. "Kaede had my father and Kohaku carry him upstairs to your brother's room. Kaede is up there with him now, I sent your mother to bed so you don't have to worry about her." Sango said as she lay her arm around Kagome's waist to steady her, stepping closer to the stairs.

Quiet voices could be heard as they entered the second floor. Kaede came to view at the end of the narrow corridor. Kagome didn't see who she was talking to, but she guessed it was some of the servants. When they approached, the person Kaede was speaking to seconds ago were nowhere to be seen, but Kagome was too tired to care at the moment. Kaede turned to them and gave a tired smile. "His life is saved for now. He had an guardian angel tonight that's for sure, but we have to keep an eye on him in the future. We must be careful from now on. Someone wanted him specific, dead." Kagome froze. Someone wanted Kouga dead? Kaede's eyes narrowed and passed them on her way to the stairs.  
But why? Kagome felt a warm hand linger on her shoulder. "You were remarkably today, miss Kagome. You made your mother proud" Kaede spoke warmly before she turned and walked with her hands crossed behind her back, her steps fading down the stairs.

Sango cleaned her hair while they waited for the water to fill up in the tube. Her hands gently massaged the soap into her hair and soon replaced it with water. Kagome closed her eyes as she felt the water stream down her body. When Sango gave signal for her to step into the tub, she didn't resist. The hot water felt comfortably against her tired body. She watched as the clean and clear water were painted red. A shiver went through her spine at the thought of it once belonging to Kouga. She let Sango clean her hands, amazed of how much blood still lingered on them. When she was done, she removed the plug from the tube, and crimson water disappeared through the small hole.

Kagome stood up and received a crème colored towel to dry herself of. When she was done she got a new and bigger one to wrap herself into and stepped out of the tube.  
The walk to her room was long and silent. When they entered her room Sango went and lit the candles near the bed then went to find something for Kagome to sleep in. "You don't have to, Sango. I can find them myself. You are just as tired as I am, so you should get yourself washed up and go to bed." Kagome tiredly spoke, barely keeping her own eyes open. "I don't mind, Kagome. I can relax as soon as I know you are in bed and sleeping" Sango said as she stepped out of the dressing room with a light blue nightgown. Kagome smiled weakly and shook her head. After Sango had helped her on with the dress, she gave signal for her to enter the bed. She was barely touching the pillow before she was sent off to sleep. Sango laughed silently before she whispered a tired good night and shut the door behind her. 


	2. Ch 2: Emotions

**_Authors_**_** note:** Hey, everybody! Sorry for the long wait! I can't believe I managed to complete this chapter after all! It's been a pain in the a... oh well, here it is anyways. I kind of like the way it turned out, but I have to wait and see really. I tend to want to change things as I progress with the story and when I find something that doesn't fit anymore, I have to change it... WEEEeeee... But thank you for holding on so long!  
Finally chapter 2 of "My dearest treasure" is out, and it's the longest chapter so far! Enjoy!_

Once again I do not own Inuyasha or its characters. All honor goes to Rumiko Takahashi! ^^

**Chapter 2: Emotions**

One month had passed since Kouga's injuries, and now he could finally manage to walk without stopping to catch his breath for each heavy step he made. But his weight had decreased greatly by that amount of time, since all the food they tried to feed him only came back up again. At the moment he looked like a walking corpse, though he had regained that spark in his eyes which Kagome had to admit she was a bit weak for.

Kagome was sitting outside the wall surrounding their house, her back leaned slightly against the white stone wall as her eyes traveled from one cloud to another. The wind blew softly against her, slipping some of her hair strands out of her loose ponytail, brushing her ticklish in the face. She didn't get much sleep last night and was trying to catch in on some of it. Her eyes flickered even so often as shadows briefly flew past her in her slumber. Truth told she was just too tired to sleep.

She heard the familiar creak of the iron gates and her head rolled slightly sideways to see who it was. A bright smile greeted her as she shook her head and sat up, smiling tiredly. "Kouga, what are you doing outside the house? You know my mother would flip if she saw you out here." She half laughed at her own statement. She couldn't be more right. Her mother was the calmest person in the world, but when it came to breaking rules, especially when it came to sick people she had a whole different personality. Kagome knew that most of that was due to her little brother nearly dying a few years back. Kouga never regained his left eye, so now he wore a silver eye patch to hide the deep hole in his skull.

"Well, I can't help it now, can I? The stench of medicine and god knows what else that old lady is brewing. It's starting to burn my nose, and not to mention my eyes! I just need some fresh air, and some company while I'm at it" Kouga threw his usual grin as he hinted to Kagome to follow him.

They walked through the garden comfortable silence. The birds fluted in silent tunes, as they watched the pair of them pass by. Kouga was her fiancée arranged by her father and Kouga's father before she was born, but Kagome never agreed to it in the first place. She had known Kouga as long as she could remember, but she never saw him as more than a close friend, closer to a brother. She knew thought that Kouga felt differently when it came to her. It wasn't like she felt nothing for him, he was a good looking man separating them with 3 years. He was captain of the guards, and respected by many. He surely was a woman's dream, but to Kagome he was nothing more than a admiration. He really had grown up to be a fine man now, hadn't he. What happened to that snotty self-centered goof back when they were younger? She silently smiled to herself.

She glanced to the side, taking in the full image of him waling beside her. He was still a bit weak, everyone could tell just by looking, but he seemed to manage fine considering the great damage on his body back then, but she decided to ask anyways "So, Kouga, how are you feeling?" her eyes moving to his face. He gently smiled down at her. "Worried about me now, are you?" he teased making Kagome slightly blush, pleased he continued "Don't worry about me dear, I'll manage. Give me a few more weeks and I'll be back on my feet again" he smiled down at her before turning his attention elsewhere. His fists tightened and his expression grew more fierce, as if he saw something Kagome couldn't. "Don't you worry. I'll get that bastard somehow" he whispered more to himself than to Kagome, and she wasn't sure if she even had heard him right, but at the time being she would let it pass.

As night grew closer, dinner was set for them in the gardens. Chicken stew with mushrooms and red bell pepper, rabbit Kagome and Sango brought back from the forest the day before, bread just taken from the oven, egg-stew, omelets, grapes and apples, and not to forget the salad. A meal for the starving that's for sure, and the smell was heavenly.

As they all sat down around the long table, the stars giving them company, Kagome felt this sudden calmness sweep over her. It had been a long time since they had relaxed like this. Too much had been happening lately. Kagome had volunteered to attend meetings in Kouga's place, giving the soldiers instructions which Kouga had given her beforehand. The soldiers hadn't been quite at cooperative as Kagome had hoped, but now things finally started to run more smoothly, and to Kagome's relief they had begun to respect her even a tiny bit compared to before, considering her "rightful place" in the community.

Well, not everyone had been as un-cooperative as the rest. The twins Ginta and Hakkaku, which usually hung around Kouga, came along when Kouga came to visit her and her family, so they gave her company and support when the others hardly bothered. Considering that she stayed in town for almost 3 weeks, it made it a lot easier with them around. She only returned yesterday to report to Kouga before riding back to town again tomorrow morning, but she didn't complain. This time Sango would tag along and the world seemed so much brighter by the minute. She didn't tell Kouga thought, but those 3 weeks had been the worst and longest days in her whole life. She was just so exhausted she could just die. How did he manage to do all that he does? and in full time?

Kagome shock her head in awe as she stretched for the purple grape juice on the other side of the table. The food was to die for, and even when her stomach screamed to stop she still wanted more, thought for once she decided to listen to its plea. She quietly drank the freshly pressed juice before she excused herself from the table and headed for the stables. The food really did wonders. Her body seemed much lighter already. She stretched her arms as high as she could, tempted to go even further when she heard her name from behind her. She turned around and let her arms slightly fall as Kouga's tall figure came into view. "Can I talk to you?" he breathed, his voice shaking slightly. It looked like he'd been running but in his shape it didn't go as well as he planned, that was clearly replicated in his face, but she didn't voice that as she hinted to go inside the stables.

Since it already was dark outside, it was natural that the inside replicated the darkness. She went over to one of the smaller lanterns hanging closest to her. She slightly lit it before she loosened it and brought it with her to lit the others further inn. When she was done, she gave signal to Kouga to join her as she went over to her black horse in the middle of the stable. It greeted her tiredly and rubbed it's big and soft muzzle against her face. She laughed softly and rubbed it behind its ears, receiving a pleased murr from him. She laughed once more before turning to Kouga who still was surprisingly quiet.

He just stood there spacing out, as if he forgot what to say, but his expression told a whole different story. She cleared her voice gently, as if to wake him thought she knew his head was as clear as day.  
"So, Kouga, what did you want to talk about?" she gently asked, her eyes studying his facial expression. He seemed to be exhale deeply before making up his mind.

It still amazed her how used she was to the patch on his left eye, she almost kicked herself from thinking it suited him, but considering the time that had passed it was strange how well it fitted his personality. "It's about you going back to town tomorrow" he begun, his right eye held hers a moment before guiding it to the lantern hanging beside her, as if searching for the right words.  
"It might not be such a good idea" he stated, the light from the lanterns flickered in his face. She let her hands slip from the horses muzzle and crossed them in front of her chest, one eyebrow slightly lifted.

"Oh, you don't think I can handle it now, do you!" she teased, slightly closing her eyes. When she didn't get any response, she opened one eye to see if he had heard her. Her eyes met his, and she was blown back. It was as if his body was shaking, even thought it seemed he tried to hide it. She let her arms fall, suddenly concerned she might have said something wrong. Why did he look so scared?  
"Maybe I should come with you too" he stated. His eyes fell to the ground again, and a uncomfortable silence followed.

Kagome stared dumb folded at the shape in front of her. What was wrong with him? She had never seen him act like that, and she had seen a lot of his personalities. How come the one she always looked up to, suddenly seemed so small? What did he know that she didn't? Was his fever running up on him again?

"Kouga? What are you talking about? You know you're still to weak to go anywhere, you barely manage to keep yourself standing for more than ten minutes at time, and you expect me to just let you come along? Have you forgotten how badly hurt you-" "I know that!" he interrupted, his fist tightening for a second before he relaxed a bit "I know that, Kagome... But that's exactly the reason why I want to go with you this time" his voice softened as he spoke. Kagome, still a bit startled from his sudden outburst, watched him with question filled eyes. "How... How is that a reason?" immediately regretting her stumbling voice. She saw the pain in his eyes, and knew he most likely was beating himself from inside-out for raising his voice at her.

"I... Ginta and Hakkaku came here a while ago, and what they told me got me worried. You see, I've had them tracking this person for me a while now, before I was attacked I found out something unpleasant you see..."  
he paused "It's about your father"

Kagome's eyes widened. "W-what are you talking about?" her knees started to feel like jelly and had to steady herself on the nearest pole. A feeling she had but behind her suddenly flooded up her mind again, and a fear swept over her as she watched Kouga's stiff form. She hadn't heard anyone talk about her father after him passing, and suddenly having someone bring it up made her feel weak.

"Kouga, what do you know?" she weakly asked, forcing her voice to stay steady. He faced her again. "Your father didn't die, both you and I know that. He couldn't." another pause. "He was murdered, by who I'm not as certain, but I think it's an connection with my attacker or attackers for that matter. I have a feeling that they tried to get rid of me because I was closing in on something." his eyes closed, as if he was searching for the right way to say it. "Something they tried to burry with him."

He looked back at Kagome as if asking for permission to continue. She weakly nodded, fear clearly reflected in her eyes.

"The day I was attacked, I was called into the courtroom at 2 pm. I was supposed to meet a informer there with information concerning your father, but he never showed up." He begun, his expression twitching at the memories. Kagome never did get to know what really happened to him before. She watched him calm himself down before he continued. "After waiting another minute, I knew something was wrong. I headed for the hall's great doors, that's when I heard them." He paused to breathe a bit before he continued.

-  
_**Flashback:**_The storm clouds started to gather over the town as Kouga made his way down the street, his dark green coat swaying gracefully behind him as he pulled the hood closer to his face. Most people passing him did the same to shelter themselves from the wind, but he had other intentions.

He stepped quickly around the corner, his trained feat sweeping over the grey cobblestones soundlessly. He would glance over his shoulder even so often, making sure he wasn't followed. He went around another corner and finally the court building came into view. He breathed nervously before he headed in its direction, carefully not to let the hood slip out of his grasp. He went over to the backdoor, checking over his shoulder one last time before entering.

The room he came into was a small, slightly lit corridor where the wall's were covered in pictures of important leaders and judges through the years. He passed them without a second glance, but halted right before the great doors. He turned his head slightly and met his own reflection in the painting beside him, only that he was older and had more facial hair. Anger and sadness swept over him. Those people was going to pay, for him too, but mostly for Kagome and her mother. He glanced one last time on his pocket watch. "_Never too early, never too late. Always precise_" Kouga whispered and put it back into his pocket. His father's words still burned inside of him. He breathed heavily once more before he gave shoved the doors forward.

The doors gave away a tired gasp which echoed through the great hall. Other than that, nothing could be heard but his own heard beat. Nothing. No one.

Hadn't he been precisely enough when he told him the time? Didn't he get how serious this was, or maybe he had been caught? Many thoughts ran through his head as he slightly made his way to the middle of the room. The sealing was graced with stars and angles playing among each other. Surrounding them was feather soft, white clouds. The walls was covered by high, old bookshelf's stretching all the way to the sealing. The only light source at the moment was that of the sealing's glass dome above him. All around him stood benches and chairs. The judges panel to the left, a red carpet separating the room in two parts from the halls doors to the panel.

Another glance on the watch. He met his own reflection in the watch, one minute had passed, still nothing. It was too risky for him to wait any longer. Another chance slipping through his fingers... This time he really believed... He sighed and headed for the backdoors once more, but stopped in his tracks. Voices, lots of them. They were not easy to spot for a normal person, but to him they were as clear as day. He only had a second to react. He ran and threw himself as long as he was through wards the judge panel, slipping behind it just as he heard the doors flew open.

He heard people storming into the room, and by the sound of it they didn't seem friendly nor less armed. "MOVE, AND WE SHOOT!" A loud voice echoed through the room, for a second he thought he'd been caught. Kouga held his breath and closed his eyes while he leaned against the inside wall of the panel. _Don't. Make. A. Sound. _He clenched his jaw as hard as he could._ Don't you dear make a sound!_

Silence followed. A needle could be heard if somebody dropped one. When the same loud voice yelled through the room again, Kouga almost blew his covers. "GET ME THAT SON OF A BASTARD! NOW!"  
His blood froze, it was really over. When nobody seemed to approach him he slightly opened his eyes, that's when he heard new footsteps entering the room, thought these where much more weakly, like they were being dragged. A loud slap echoed the room "Where is he?" Thought it was calmer this time, Kouga could feel the anger behind each word. "I-I- I don't know, m-master! He was s-supposed to... to be here...!" his voice muffed as if he had his face clued to the floor. The person yelped as he felt the foot collide with his stomach. "Does it look like he's here, Flinch?" The voice rang again, this time the voice struggled with the calmness. Kouga himself found it extremely hard on that part to.

_Flinch?! That bastard! He sold me out! _Kouga breathed, anger wielding up inside of him. Oh how he wished he was the one kicking the guts out of him! He heard Flinch yelp another time. "I- I swear! I wouldn't lie to you! I need the money, my wife is sick! I was supposed to meet him here precisely 2 pm, he's never late!" Flinch fragile voice sent shivers down Kouga's spine.

_So his wife was sick? _Kouga could understand his needs for the money but if he just had asked for help, Kouga would gladly helped them, he owed them as much. But to sell his soul to the enemy?

"Papa?" Kouga's insides went cold. Flinch deserved punishment for what he had done, but this was too much even for Kouga. He could picture Flinch frightened face and being. "I knew you might get cold feats, so just in case I asked someone to bring me something to remind you of who I am." Kouga could feel the shilling smile all the way from over there "No please!" Flinch weak voice echoed through the room "Now, you tell me." The cold voice sounded amused. "Which to choose" he stepped closer to the girl. "Either you tell me the truth, or I'll have your precious daughter face the consequences" Kouga heard the clicking sound of the gun being loaded.

Flinch was an idiot, but he knew when to give up. Not the same to be said about this other person. To sink so low and take it out on a little girl? This was going too far.

"Papa? Why is that man pointing that thing on me?" the girls voice stood out from all the tension that had build up in this room, she was being tainted, and that would be on Kouga's shoulders if he didn't do something fast.

He looked around him to find something of use. Books, chairs, paper. _Come on! There got to be something _of_ use here! _He felt himself panic as nothing popped into his head. His elbow hit the panel and he felt his whole world come crashing down. Something fell into his lap. "What was that?" Silence followed. "Go check it out" he heard them approaching him. _Are you kidding me? after all I've been through this is what you give me? _A vase_?! _Kouga cursed under his breath. Well, now he didn't have much of a choice. It was this or nothing.

This better had to work. He breathed deeply before speaking into the vase. "You really are low to use a little girl to get what you want. What's wrong? Are you too lazy to do the work yourself?" His deep voice echoed in the room, causing lot of murmurs among the soldiers.

"So you were here after all" the voice Kouga had figured belonged to the leader in the room. So what now? He had gotten their attention, but how did he get himself out of this mess. _Think, think!_ A sudden explosion over him caused him to lose the vase and it shattered small pieces of porcelain beside him. _Well isn't that just great... _But he didn't have much time to "grieve" over the vase. From the shouts behind him, it was kind of obvious that they weren't behind it. But then who?

Another explosion, this time the wall to his left exploded into millions of pieces, books or what was left of them flew across the room, paper and dust trying to keep up with them. "Captain, we are being attacked from outside" One of the solider shouted through the noise. "Well, you aren't saying!" the captain shouted back more furious than ever. "Pirates!" one of the other soldiers shouted. "The whole town is being attacked from the sea!"

_Pirates? Attacking in bright daylight? What are they thinking?_ Well, this seemed to be more of the opportunities he had been waiting for, and he didn't plan to let it go to waste. He drew one last breath before he looked around the corner. To say that he saw nothing would be pushing it, but what he saw wasn't helping either. The room was filled with dust from all sides, but he could barely make out some of the figures in front of him. Another explosion could be heard in the distance. He hoped that the rest of his crew was alright.

He tore of a part of his white undershirt and brought it around his mouth and nose to prevent the dust from filling his lungs. While the soldiers were distracted he rolled over and crawled on his elbows in the direction he knew Flinch and his daughter where. The bricks and books from the wall was spread out all around the floor, making it hard for him to keep up a steady pace. That's when he heard it, the gunshots, and a terrible scream causing the hair on his back to raise. _No!_

He didn't bother to crawl no more. He stood up in one go and dashed in the direction of the scream. He ran straight into one of the guards, but knocked him out before he could say or do anything, picking up the soldiers rifle as he ran.

Flinch laid on the floor motionless, his daughter hanging over him crying. Cold went down his spine. His eyes went over to the solider standing with his gun, shakily pointing at the little girl. "What the hell are you doing, man?!" The other solider shouted as he stared wide eyed on his companion. "Kato never gave us any orders of killing the man!" he shouted once more. "I-I... He just jumped on me trying to take my weapon! Before I knew it, he just lay there! What should I do?! Is he really dead?!" the soldier with the rifle cried out, his voice cracking on the last word.

"I'll tell you what you should do" Kouga spoke, his voice raging with furry, making the soldiers turn his way. He slammed the end of the rifle into the closest solider, knocking him out. The second he slammed into the wall head first. None of them really was able to react in time.

The subs from the little girl brought him back to reality and he ran over to Flinch on the floor. He quickly searched for pulse and relief watched over him when he found it. He lightly stroke the girls hair away from her face and made her look at him. "It'll be alright. He's still alive, but we have to get him away from here, but I can't do it alone, you hear me?" You need to be brave for your father now, ok? Can you do that for me?" he gently spoke. Tears still streamed down her face, but then she nodded and rose to her feet. By the sight of it Flinch had lost to much blood already, but he was lucky he was alive.

He bent over and lightly tapped the girl on the head before he smiled. He then tore some material of one of the soldiers clothing and started to wrap it around Flinch open wound, his own clothes too drenched in his own blood. Kouga knew he didn't have much time, but if he didn't conceal the wound, Flinch would die before they got away from there. He thanked the heavens that Flinch was of the small skinny types as he managed to get him over his shoulders. "Alright then, can you pass me that one over there?" he asked the girl as he stood up, and pointed at the rifle by her feats. She willingly brought it over to him and went over to his side lightly grabbing the side of Kouga's jacket. "When I say so, we run, ok? If I tell you to run later on, you run as fast as you can away from here, ok? no mater what" he silently spoke as he r readied the grip around her father. She nodded once more. "You ready?" Another nod.

"Go!" They started running out the already shattered door and into the open. The sight almost made him stop, but he still pushed on. It was chaos outside. People were screaming, some spread on the ground, some not moving. Houses were torn and fire was consuming the leftovers. 

"WHATCH OUT!" somebody screamed, but it was too late. He watched it all happen in slow motion. The ground under them giving away, the stones flew up around them, the little girls question filled eyes met his as she flew of somewhere he couldn't see. He felt Flinch slip out of his grasp and then... the pain.

**End Flashback****  
**  
"The next thing I knew I was here in your family's care" His voice was quiet, almost ghostly. Kagome stared wide eyed at Kouga who was sitting on one of the bench in front of her, facing the ground. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "W-what happened to Flinch and his daughter?" her voice cracking on the last word. A heavy silence followed before Kouga decided to look at her, and what she saw tore her from within. His eyes bore a burden he would carry for the rest of his life. Her hands went up to her mouth to keep back the sob.

"I heard they found Flinch remains on the battle ground, but the little girl was gone..." his eyes closed tiredly as he drew a deep breath. "Some hero I am..." his whisper so fragile. Before Kagome knew it, she was embracing him, holding him close to her body. "Don't you dare" she quietly whispered. She felt his body stiffen in her arms. "You tried your best. No one was expecting more than that, Kouga. So don't you dear putt yourself down like that." she stated, but she had to battle herself to keep her voice steady. "Not even your father."

It might have been only her imagination, but she thought she could feel his body tremble underneath her. "You did great" she smiled as she lightly brushed the back of his head before she let him go, standing up again.

"Come now. Let's discuss your departure with the rest. I bet they are wondering where we are by now" She turned around to walk away when she felt his hand around her wrist. She halted and turned her head to see why he had stopped her. He was still facing the ground but his tight grip around her wrist wasn't loosening. "Kouga? Something wrong?"

"Thank you, Kagome" he silently spoke. Kagome blinked. He let go of her arm and smiled up at her. "uh, no problem. You can always come to me when you need to talk you know" she smiled back at him before she turned around once more and headed for the exit.

Kouga watched her as she left the stable. "Thank you for being my strength when I can't seem to find my own..." he silently spoke before rising to his feats, and followed after her into the fresh night air.

-  
_**So what did you think so far? I know it's a bit messy, but there is just so many explanations to do before the real story can start...  
Trust me I want it to start now, but unfortunately it can't... TT_TT  
Thanks to you who still holds on to this story! You really motivate me a lot! I can't say for sure when I will publish the next chapter since I have lot to do on school and such, but I will do my best to update as quickly as I can!  
And don't worry! Inuyasha will soon be introduced to the story, I'm just not sure how yet, but I will figure it out somehow. I know that it's a lot of Kouga/Kagome at the moment, but it will be more Inuyasha/Kagome somewhere out there! Hang on guys! XD**_


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